Around town: Film society cooks up family film

Special

Published Friday, June 15, 2001

A holiday celebration--neither religious nor patriotic, but instead revolving mostly around food, family and the creation of great stories.

"Thanksgiving" gives director Gurinder Chadha, an Indian of Punjabi ancestry and Kenyan roots, the framework to tell her interlocking stories about four American families: African American, Jewish, Latino and Vietnamese.

The stories in "What's Cooking," the June 19 selection of the Film Society of St. Augustine, are skillfully threaded together and involve the generation gap, as older family members cling to tradition and younger ones rebel. During this long day, secrets are revealed, hearts bared, old grudges settled, new ones started, pregnancies announced, forgiveness granted and turkeys carved.

"All of this reflects the design of the film, but not the texture and pleasure," says critic Roger Ebert. "There are so many characters, so vividly drawn, with such humor and life, that a synopsis is impossible," he says. "What's strange is the spell the movie weaves. By its end, there is actually a sort of tingle of pleasure in seeing how this Thanksgiving ends, and how its stories are resolved. In recent years most Thanksgiving movies have been about families at war. Here are four families that have, in one way or another, started peace talks."

"What's Cooking?" will be shown twice on June 19, at 4:30 and 7 p.m. at the Art Association, 22 Marine St. Price is $5 for members and $7 for non-members.

Next scheduled FSSA film is a double feature on July 17 featuring works of the great Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa. There will be no film July 3.